ENG – Emma Lindström: Into the Cosmos (Sweden/USA)

Expressing herself through her art, Emma conveys the energy and emotions flowing through her onto the canvas. It’s an open invitation for the viewer to feel deeply before doing any thinking. The connection between each other and the universe matters.
From Sweden to New York, Colorado and across the world, Emma’s creativity is an explosion of colors. Her splashes of paint mingle and dance having the power to keep you hypnotized.

Cindy Carla Voitus: When did you discover your gift for painting and how did you get your first exhibit at an art gallery?Emma Lindström: I found art in high school, as a means of truly expressing myself. Before that it had always been music for me (which is still a big part of my life), but the power in painting just blew me away and has had a tight hold on me ever since. I’ve worked hard and actively to realize the kind of life I want for myself, so applying for exhibtions and trying to get my art out there have been a big part of my work. There’s been lots of rejections along the way, but I’ve never given up. I’m so happy and grateful that I’ve now come to a point where I’m asked if I want to exhibit my work, and not the other way around.

CC: When we look at your paintings the way you combine shapes and how the colors flow on your canvas gives us a feeling of a deep look into the cosmos. How do you feel when you paint? And what would you like the viewer to see and/or feel through your art?EL: That’s a beautiful interpretation! I feel lost, in a good way, when I paint. Lost in space, lost in time – but home in me. I don’t really think about what I’m doing, I just convey the energy that flows through me on to the canvas. What people see in my work is, for me, less important than what they feel when exposed to them. I’d like to think that my artworks have some part of the creative force of the universe inclosed in them, which I hope can be picked up and revived by the spectator. Maybe that can trigger the spectator to create something of their own and pass the creative energy on further. We’re all part of the flow, part of it all.

CC: What drives your creative process? How was your eye for composition developed?EL: What drives my creative process is simply the need to create. The need to create something beautiful out of the energy and emotions rushing inside of me, and by doing so also creating my own reality. I haven’t really evaluated my ”eye for composition”, but I guess all the hours spent painting must have resulted in something…

CC: What is your artistic vision? And why are blue and purple the most predominant colors of your artworks?EL: My artistic vision is to make people feel. To take a break from analyzing and critical thinking for a little while, and just let go. If you can feel the energy in my work, it means that however distant in time and space we might be, we share the same energy. Part of the energy that connects and holds us all together. As for the colors, I really don’t know why the pieces turn out the way they do. Maybe the colors correspond to the specific energies I convey, however strange that might seem…

CC: Can you tell us about your new project with plexiglass? Will it become a series?EL: I love experimenting and trying out new things, and plexiglass is just another experiment. Maybe it turns out great, in which case it could definitely become a series! I like the big part light has on the result of painted plexiglass, but it also makes things a bit tricky… Or trickier than I’m used to anyway. But it’s good to step out of your comfort zone once in a while!

CC: “Alikaii”, “Anohaao”, “Anhubava”, “Akaleyi”… are some of the names given to your paintings. How do you pick the title to best convey the meaning of your artwork?EL: The titles are actually meant to not convey any meaning of the works, or at least any fixed mental representations. I want the meaning of the works to be as open as possible, and up to each specific viewer to discover for themselves without me pointing them in any specific direction.

CC: How challenging is it to be and stay in the art scene as a young artist?EL: It’s challenging, for sure, and I’m only just in the beginning of my career. But the biggest obstacle is often my own fear and doubt. Once I learned to accept the voices in my head, and not listen to them quite as much, it’s like turning down the volume on a stereo. When the noise is turned down, I suddenly see and feel much more, and I know what I have to do. Easier said than done, I know, but you just have to find your own way to the volume knob and keep going back to it and turning it down. My way to sort out the noise is through painting, and that’s all the proof I need that I’m on the right path. When the voices start building up, I can still remember that feeling and press on. Turn up the light, turn down the noise, and keep going!